The following pictures were taken by me at today's Silent Wings Museum's 69th Anniversity of D-Day. The Allied invasion of Normandy, France, in World War Two. To remember the great sacrifice of the Allies who gave all. And especially of the Glider Pilots of which the Lubbock International Airport was once upon a time the training base for the glider pilots.
Two aircraft from the CAF (Commemorative Air Force) along with the Texas Air Museum will offer rides on the C-47 known as the "Southern Cross" for $75.00 a person. If you wanted to ride the B-25 bomber known as "The Yellow Rose", you better be ready to lay down almost $400 for a 30 minute ride of a lifetime.
As a side note, this blogger did spend such a large amount to ride the B-17G known as "The Liberty Belle."
Ricky Taylor of Shallowater, Texas, provided free Jeep rides around the parking lot in front of the museum today. Other military vehicles such as the Army cargo truck and trailor was provided by Troy Swinney and Sam Dunn had his own 1951 M38 jeep that his father had shipped back from Korea to his home in Arizona after the Korean War.
Ricky's Grandson Zander Morrison wore my father's USAAF service cap for this picture. That is his grandmother Karen behind him.
And for those of us who love Aircraft Nose Art...
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Ref:
1. Flash Force 255 Bunker. "The 1955 M606 Jeep Gift" April 28, 2013. By Don W. Shanks. ( http://flash255bunker.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-1955-m606-jeep-gift.html ).
2. Flash Force 255 Bunker. "A Shop Full of Jeeps!" May 22, 2013. By Don W. Shanks. ( http://flash255bunker.blogspot.com/2013/05/a-shop-full-of-jeeps.html ).
3. City of Lubbock. "Commemoration of the Sixty-Ninth Anniversary of D-Day" ( http://www.ci.lubbock.tx.us/news-item/2013/06/06/Department ).
4. Flash Force 255 Bunker. "B-17 Liberty Belle" July 26, 2008. By Don W. Shanks. ( http://aerospacedreams.blogspot.com/2008/07/warbirds.html )
5. Silent Wings Museum website ( http://www.mylubbock.us/departmental-websites/departments/silent-wings-museum/home ).
Silent Wings Museum contact information: 6202 Interstate 27 Frontage, Lubbock, TX 79403. Phone number is 806.775.3049. Or their website (http://www.mylubbock.us/departmental-websites/departments/silent-wings-museum/home).
My friend Ricky is into collecting automobiles and over the past six weeks, he has been getting into Jeeps. It started off with a 1975-76 CJ-7 before the Jeep line was taken over by Chrysler. Plan is to have it painted up like a US Army jeep from the 1970s.
Then I happened to be over at his shop three weeks ago and spotted a ad in the Thrifty Nickle newspaper, and I pointed it out to Ricky. Someone was wanting to sell their two Jeeps and I showed him the add. Ricky called and found out that they were indeed Army surplus. One was even in the Korean War.
An hour and a half later, Ricky, his wife Karen, and yours truely was on the road down to Post, Texas, to visit this treasure find.
The seller had had a stroke and decided to sell off his dream vehicles. One Jeep was in a garage with its engine out on a table. The other Jeep - referred to as the "Parts Jeep." was in his old shop on the other side of town from away from the first Jeep.
Needless to say, my friend purchased both Jeeps for the most amazing, incredible price of $500.00! That was the price the old man purchased them for back in 1965 when he bought both Jeeps from the Lubbock Surplus shop that was operational back then.
This was on Thursday. Friday, another trip down to Post - this time with a trailer, and the "Project Jeep" was loaded up. Saturday, the final trip down to Post to get the "Parts Jeep."
Ricky's grandsons have laid claim to these jeeps and are now referred to by their "owners" names or nicknames. Since both are under age 18, I will only give out their nicknames in this posting. "Project Jeep" is now "Mr. Nick's" or "Nickko's" Jeep. The engine for his Jeep has now been clean and new head gaskets put on, and needs a replacement starter. The Jeep itself was taken to the sandblaster this past week and was picked up and returned to Ricky's place yesterday. Ricky is planning on shooting a primer coat and maybe even some new/old stock Olive Drab Green paint he purchased off the internet last week.
The other Jeep is now known as "Z-Man's Jeep." This was the so-called Parts Jeep. But the engine was still in place and with about an hours' worth of work the evening we brought this Jeep back up to Lubbock, it was running - but with a lot of smoke. In the two weeks since this Jeep has been brought back to life, the smoke has almost disappeared.
The reader has to remember that both of these Jeeps have not run since 1965 when they were purchased from the surplus house.
"Z-man's Jeep" is an original Willys Jeep with that name stamped into the hood and windshield frame. Which by the way, Ricky had that windshield frame all repaired in a weeks time. And using the seat frames from "Mr. Nick's" Jeep, he was able to create new passenger and driver seats for "Z-man's Jeep."
Ricky plans on restoring all three of these Jeeps. Evening rides in the CJ-7 with ALL the grandkids. Both grandsons and Ricky's granddaughter have all begun to learn how to drive the CJ-7 Jeep in his backyard where there is the dirt racing track for Radio Controltrucks, the battlefield for RC tanks, and the runway for our RC model airplanes.
The YouTube video link below "" shows a 1945 Jeep CJ verses a new year (2012) Jeep Wrangler. That 1945 model shown is just "too perfect" for Ricky. That vehicle looks like it never left the factory, seen combat, etc. His retorations will not go that far.
The pictures with this posting were taken by me. From top to bottom. Top picture shows Ricky's CJ-7 and Z-Man's Jeep parked in front of Ricky's shop. The next picture down shows "Mr. Nick's" Jeep at the sandblaster's. Next picture down shows the now sandblasted Jeep on the trailer when it was brought back to Ricky's Auto Repair shop. Next picture shows "Mr. Nick's" Jeep inside the west bay of Ricky's shop. Final picture shows Ricky's craftsmanship of the replacement seats for Z-Man's Jeep. The back plate for the driver's seat still needs to be welded into place.
Now if only I can have a (full scale) Jeep of my own to play with. I have lots of 1/6th scale Jeeps in storage with my G.I. Joes.
UPDATE May 20, 2012:Mr Nick's Jeep has now been painted and it looks GOOD! I brought over some of my 1/6th scale Jeeps to photograph them with their full scale counterparts. They were rolled out of the garage into the slightly overcast daylight today and I place my Jeeps on the hoods of the real ones. Below left we see my 1/6th scale Jeep on the hood of the M38 that was painted overnight (aka Mr. Nick's Jeep).
UPDATE: July 8, 2012: Today was the first chance that I got to drive the jeep we refer to as "Mr. Nick's Jeep." And thanks to my friend Howard L, they now have a old military trailer to tow behind that jeep now. Howard and I go back ten years or so when I got into the RC model airplane hobby and that is how we met.
Taking a pressure washer to it, the name "Ben Hur" came out in white letters on the tailgate. Eventually, this trailer will be clean up and re-painted to match the jeep force that we somehow are building by accident.
As for the M38 itself, Ricky has constructed the canvas top bows and the fittings that go along with it. Ricky was able to purchase from someone a new/old stock canvas top for the jeep and now we ride around in it protected from the West Texas sun. There have been donations of 5 gallon fuel tanks that will also be correctly painted at some future date.
And along with ALL of that, Ricky found some great deals for pup tents and his grand kids demonstrate here.
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Ref.
1. YouTube Videos of Jeeps ( http://www.youtube.com/topic/0tJ3ZTFUBxI/jeep-cj ).
2. YouTube Videos of Jeeps "Jeep Evolution: 1945 Jeep CJ vs. 2012 Jeep Wrangler" ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hoCxunMgVfw&feature=topics ).
I've been drooling over what Nitroplanes/Airfield RC have been coming out with this past year.
However, I'm disappointed that their quaility control at the Chinese factory(
I assume) is terribly lacking. Point in fact is with American military aircraft from World War Two to Vietnam and the modern era. The "Star & Bar" is displayed on top of the left wing and bottom of the right wing with the point of the star pointing in the direction of travel or up if on the fuselage. And on both sides of the fuselage. In the modern era, the American flag is displayed on the vertical tail usually. If you are standing on the left or port side of a airplane, the flag is normal looking, on the right or starboard side, it is the reverse view "as if you were looking at the flag on a flagpole."
Case in point: Airfields' popular 55" wingspan P-51D Mustang with either the red nose spinner or the yellow spinner. Truth be known, I would love to buy the yellow nose
Mustang. But I cannot bring myself to - because of the incorrect wing markings done on the yellow airplane. They got it right with the red spinner
airplane! What happened here with the yellow one? Even more bizarre, their smaller 30" wingspan size P-51s are correct in their wing markings!?
The Art-TechP-51D is done correctly. The pictures prove it on their own website!
Then moving on to the big, beautiful Twin 70mm ductfan powered F-4e done up in U.S. Navy colors by ProJet. And the star & bar is on top of the starboard(i.e. right wing). To make matters worse, the point of the star is facing AFT, Not Forward like it should!!!
The color schemes are not bad-don't get me wrong about that. But to allow such models to reach the public with these type of mistakes point to poor oversite management in my opinion. That F-4E just begs for the USAF southeast asia paint scheme on a future model release. I hope that they can get it right when they do it.
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Ref.
Nitroplanes.com-
Projet F-4e twin 70mm DF(http://www.nitroplanes.com/90f4efiedfrc.html).
There will be a lot of remembering about D-Day on June 6th this year and for the next few years as well I suppose. But for me, the true turning point of the Second World War was the Battle of Midway - June 4, 1942.
My friend from way back in our shared college days-Anthony P. Tully co-authored a book with Jonathan Parshall a few years back entitled, "Shattered Sword. The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway." It recounts the battle from the Japanese point of view and by in large recounts the mistakes they made and shoot down some famous myths in the process.
If nothing else this weekend, when you go out and maybe rent the DVD of the movie "Midway" or "Private Ryan" or of the John Wayne movie "D-Day," if you have the extra money, go ahead and pick up a copy of this book.
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Ref USNI Blog "Remembering Midway – 68 Years Later" by SJS, June 2010 (http://blog.usni.org/2010/06/01/remembering-midway-68-years-later/?utm_source=Publicaster&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=June%202010%20USNI%20Newsletter).
Peter Shaw of the United Kingdom loves railways and military stuff and decided to combine the two together into a special project. He was going to build himself one of those German Dora class rail guns. Just think of that WW2 flick "The Guns of Navarone."
Built by the Krupp Steel Industries in the late 1930s. The 1000 ton monster was carried on parallel tracks. The 80 cm (2 feet, 8 inches) shell weighing 7 tons. Being fired from a 30 meter barrel and the shell can be fired over a distance of 29 miles at a velocity of 2,700 feet per second. The shell could penetrate up to 30 feet deep into earth making a crater over 90 feet in diameter.
Special twin railway engines with low speed gear was able to move the gun carriage an inch forward at a time if needed. First combat of the Dora took place at Sevastopol on the Eastern Front and in June 1942, the gun fired for the first time. A spotter plane like the Storsch was used to fly over the target area and report back on the locations where the shells hit the target area.
For transport to a combat area, the whole thing was disassembled and reassembled at a new location.
Check out this link to see his slide show of the building of this monster project.
I have been a life long fanatic for aviation and space related subjects since my parents took me out to a airshow when I was four or five years old.
Solo in a Cessna 150/152 in college, but never was able to get my Private Pilot's license. Love to fly whenever I get a chance to. Until recently, I was into radio control model airplanes. Had to sell them off due to current fincial times.
As for UFOS, I have seen them since the 7th grade. But I haven't witness any more since I turned 30 something - or paid attention enough to see them I should say.
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